Monday, March 28, 2005

I looked out my kitchen window the other day,checking on the birds at the birdfeeder. Suddenly I notice some red motion around my hummingbird feeder. My first thought was that what I saw was a really large hummingbird. But, no, it was no hummingbird. It was a small woodpecker.He was hanging on the feeder, drinking the red sugar water. He really looked funny. Now I wonder, is this a bird with an identity crisis?

Thursday, March 24, 2005

Well, after much gutwrenching debates, my daughter and her husband have decided to tough it out a little longer in El Paso. They also decided they cant go to Florida for vacation. Wise thinking. I do agree that they could make more money if they moved in with us for a while, but there are bigger issues here. Not the smallest of which would be how well would we all get along? Annie complains that she cant get a job in El Paso because,as she says, all the jobs are only minimum wage and require Spanish speaking. She cant speak the language. That's what she gets for cutting Spanish class in high school! I wish them well and I hope they will take this time to consider the real costs of some of their ideas. I still cant believe that they wanted to move all their belongings to Houston and again later to Austin. She said they thought they could just park the U-Haul truck somewhere and it would be ok while they stayed here in Houston. Not a good idea. I seen several reports of theft from that idea. Oh well.

Wednesday, March 23, 2005

We got a little plastic bag in our mailbox yesterday from WasteManagement garbage collection. In it was a little brochure explaining the fact that if you dont have a sticker on your garbage can they will not pick up your garbage. What! We've been here almost a year and nothing has been said about it. Now they want to charge me $45 to set up an account so that they will continue to collect my garbage. Not to mention they want this put on a plastic can for me to drag out to the curb. I find it easier to carry bags to the curb. They said that if we dont have a garbage can, we can call a number and they will provide one. Well, I have a large garbage can, but I think this is annoying to have to do this. First this was an expense that was never mentioned. Second, it seems that everytime I turn around somebody wants money. If it's not one of the kids or grandkids, it's the oil companies raiding my bank account with increasing prices, to the cable, utility and phone companies raising the rates every time I blink. Then the government always wants their cut. The Feds are one, now the state of Texas wants to increase its sales tax. Any body else need some money?

Saturday, March 19, 2005

I love my kids and grandkids. But, sometimes I must take exception to what they do. I dont feel it is wise for grown, married with kids,children to move back home.They need to learn to fend for themselves. Moving back home to save money just proves that you are not mature enough to handle life.Before you decide to do something consider all the options. Dont put extra pressure and stress on parents who have finished raising kids.I think if I have to have 24/7 care when I am older, I should die. I dont want to put an extra burden on my family.

Friday, March 04, 2005

Well, the wonderful Texas powers that be are at it again. Now they want to do away with the free baby formula given to new mothers as they leave the hospital. People who advocate breast feeding are happy. I don't see what is wrong with the samples. When my kids were born, we were given a very nice goody bag with samples of different baby things including formula. The formula makers say they will lobby to continue the practice. After all, if you dont want it you can always give it to someone who will use it or just throw it away. Jeez

Thursday, March 03, 2005

Just what I need -more taxes. So the Tx lawmakers are mulling a bill that would help keep property taxes down. In order to do this, they propose to increase the state sales tax. By doing this, Texas would have one of the highest rates in the country and Houston would have the highest local tax in the state.While I have no problem with keeeping property taxes down, it doesnot help me. I dont own a house and cant afford one due to our lousey credit. So it falls upon others to accept the burden and be forced to spend more money for goods and services. It always seems to be the ones who can least afford it who get stuck paying the bills.

Wednesday, March 02, 2005

Today I discovered how connected we all are to our computers. Not just to the internet but to the whole thing. I turned on my computer this morning only to find the following message: Disk Boot Failure- Insert System Disk and Press Enter. At that point I realized until I could solve this problem I would not be able to do anything. Nothing, nada, zip. Cant check email, news or play games. Cant even get into the pc to do anything off line either. I suddenly thought of how much I depend on this machine for so much. What did we all do without them. I was frustrated to say the least. The HP machine we bought a couple of years ago did not come with a Windows XP disk( our old Windows ME did) How weird is that. Ok, Mr. Gates tell me why. So I think I'll have to call my son to help me since he's here in town and can speak computer in English. Unlike my son in law the computer geek who thinks he knows everything about the entire universe but cant explain anything. As a last resort I crawl under the desk and turn off the power strip for a moment. Low and behold, when I turned on the power again up popped a live computer. Go figure!

Tuesday, March 01, 2005

I don't think my son really enjoyed his weekend as much as he had hoped. Dont think he liked being taken for a ride. How embarrassing to be in the company of people too drunk to know how they really look